I'm a Little Confused on Tax Question Concerning Filing Status

But what if they paid the mortgage while they were together? Does that affect the "paid more than half the cost of keeping up your home" requirement? And does it matter that the kids were only living with OP for part of the year after the divorce?

For the "keeping up a home" requirement, you need to pay more than half the costs for the home where you and your qualifying person lived for more than half the year. These costs include rent, mortgage interest, property taxes, utilities, repairs, and food eaten at home. For the children as qualifying persons, they need to have lived with you for more than half the year. But there's a special rule that time your ex-spouse was away temporarily (like for business, medical care, or education) still counts as time living with you. The key is that the kids are now primarily in your care, and if they've been with you for more than half the year in total, they can qualify you for Head of Household status.

Does it actually work with complicated situations? My divorce isn't final yet but I've been separated for 2 years and my ex won't finalize the paperwork. Would taxr.ai help figure out if I can file as head of household even though I'm technically still married?

I've heard about these AI tax tools but I'm a little nervous about uploading personal documents like a divorce decree. Is it secure? And does it actually give you official tax advice you can rely on?

It definitely works with complicated situations. The AI is trained on tax regulations and can handle unique circumstances like yours. Even though you're technically still married, if you've been separated and maintained a separate household, you might qualify for certain statuses. The tool will walk you through the specific requirements. All documents are encrypted and they use bank-level security. It's not giving "official" tax advice like a CPA would, but it analyzes your documents against tax regulations and explains which rules apply to your situation. I found it super helpful for understanding the "why" behind the recommendations.

How does that even work? The IRS phone lines are impossible to get through. Is this some kind of priority line or something?

Sounds like a scam tbh. Nobody can magically get through to the IRS faster. They probably just charge you to wait on hold for you or something.

It's not a priority line - they use technology that basically waits on hold for you and calls you back when an agent picks up. It monitors the hold music and when it changes (indicating an agent is about to answer), it calls your phone and connects you. It's definitely not a scam. They don't answer for you or pretend to be the IRS - they just handle the waiting part. When you get the call back, you're talking directly to an actual IRS agent, not a middleman. I was skeptical too but it saved me about 2 hours of hold time when I really needed an answer about my filing status.

Thanks for mentioning this! My ex and I are actually on decent terms. Would we both have to file jointly together or could I still do head of household? I've already submitted my return as head of household based on the advice here...would I need to do an amendment if joint was better?

If you file jointly, both of you have to file together on one return. You can't have one person filing jointly and the other filing head of household - it's an all or nothing choice. Since you've already filed as head of household, you could amend if filing jointly would benefit both of you. However, you'd need to run the numbers both ways to see which is better, and your ex would need to agree. Remember that filing jointly also means you're both responsible for the entire tax liability, so there's some risk involved if you don't completely trust each other.

FreeTaxUSA actually handles this pretty well! I used it last year after my divorce. They ask straightforward questions about your marital status as of Dec 31, whether you have dependents, etc. and guide you to the right filing status. Their help sections explain the requirements clearly too.

I would recommend you double check with a professional if your situation is complicated. My sister used FreeTaxUSA after her divorce and it seemed fine but she missed some deductions related to the kids that her accountant caught the following year.